Saturated Fat vs Sugar

Here is a great article by David Katz discussing a study that has sparked the latest argument, which is worse, saturated fat or sugar?

My favourite bits are…

“The study showed that if saturated fat calories were replaced with sugar and/or refined starches (which tend to go together, as in a donut), the risk for cardiovascular disease was equally high both times. Let’s pause there a moment: equally high both times.

This means that those inclined to argue that saturated fat is the only concern when it comes to coronary disease are just as wrong as those inclined to suggest that sugar is the root of all dietary evil, and vice versa. Neither camp of absolute advocacy- it’s all about saturated fat; it’s all about sugar– finds any comfort, or cover, in this study……

Moving on, the study also showed, predictably to some of us, that when saturated fat was replaced with whole grains, polyunsaturated fats, and/or monounsaturated fats, cardiovascular risk went down significantly- with the largest benefit associated with polyunsaturated fats. What are the food sources of such calories apt to be? In the case of whole grains, whole grains, obviously. In the case of PUFAs and MUFAs, they would be the usual suspects: nuts, seeds, olive oil and other cooking oils, avocado, seafood and fish.

So, this study is potentially a nice antidote to the overcooked rhetoric about meat, butter and cheese; and related excesses regarding saturated fat and sugar………

Science……. is about the incremental additions of each new study to what we knew before. It requires uncertainty, and allows for mistakes- even as it allows for us to know enough. We can act based on what we know about nutrition, and despite our doubts, to do enormous good; just as we can act, based on what we know of physics and despite our many doubts, to bounce radio waves off of orbiting satellites, and beam electrons through cyberspace.

But between us and that opportunity are the parasites of science who have no apparent interest in the weight of evidence, and instead feed selectively on studies depending on whether they endorse the opinion they’ve already decided is true. You will find them out here every day, in close quarters with the fools and fanatics, busily reTweeting one another’s absolutes. They are a greater peril to us all than either saturated fat or sugar.”